Govt’s “to-do list” will fail without community involvement

The Government’s Better Public
Services results targets released today will be unsuccessful
if communities and the organisations that serve them are not
involved in developing the action plans that underpin them,
according to ComVoices, an independent network of Community
and Voluntary sector organisations.

Dave Henderson,
Co-ordinator at ANGOA, said for the results to actually work
it would take all parts of the system to be involved –
from the beginning.

“The Government’s aim of
getting traction on some tough social issues is an excellent
start, but success will be highly dependent on tapping into
the wealth of on-the-ground knowledge in the Community and
Voluntary Sector,” Mr Henderson said.

“Reducing crime,
long-term welfare dependency and educational
underachievement are difficult issues, and every community
in New Zealand has a vested interest in making sure we as a
country achieve these results.

Mr Henderson added it
was therefore concerning that only a couple of the lead
government agencies have chosen to involve Community
representatives and Community and Voluntary Sector
organisations in determining the result targets and the
action plans to achieve them.

“One has to ask whether
this is simply repackaging of what we’ve already got
because the same people will be giving the same answers to
issues that are only getting worse. And if that approach
worked, we’d have seen results a long time ago.”

Ric
Odom, Chair of ComVoices, said the Ministry of Justice and
the Department of Internal Affairs had both begun to involve
communities and Community and Voluntary Sector
organisations.

“Lack of consistency in the depth and way
communities and Community and Voluntary Sector organisations
are involved are, unfortunately, likely to translate into
inconsistent delivery at a community level.

“Take Better
Public Service result four for reducing the number of
assaults on children as an example. Community organisations
dealing with this issue day in and day out are the ones who
can communicate concerns before it is too late. There is
every reason for those organisations to be involved in
formulating the action plan to achieve that target – they
know where the support gaps are.”

Robyn Scott, Chief
Executive of Philanthropy New Zealand, said the Prime
Minister and Minister of Finance had been clear about their
desire to see a stronger focus on involving the community to
deliver public services that work.

“To achieve these
results requires hard work and difficult choices by
individuals, families and whānau in homes and communities
around the country. We know they are capable of making those
hard decisions, but they will need support.

“Government
agencies rely heavily on non-government organisations to
deliver services in our communities. To not involve them in
determining the results targets and the action plans takes
away a whole level of knowledge and understanding that is
crucial to success.”

Ros Rice, Executive Officer of NZ
Council of Social Services, said the results should be an
opportunity to think differently, to involve communities and
to behave in different ways.

“We are an incredibly
dynamic sector, with a lot of grassroots involvement in
communities throughout the country. Our size is testimony to
that. We’re also the ones delivering the majority of
services required to achieve the targets set out by the
Government – it makes no sense not to use us and see what
does and doesn’t work.”

The sector contributes
4.9 per cent of New Zealand’s GDP (including volunteer
hours), which is similar to the contribution of the
construction
industry.

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